The Highway Bill Will Be Back

Thanks to the efforts of good conservatives, we sent a message to Washington that the highway bills (H.R.7 and S.1813) are unacceptable, but the fight isn’t over. Right now, Congress is not in session, which means lawmakers are back home in their districts trying to defend these terrible pieces of legislation.

And they’re getting help. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is doing its part to tout the bill and it’s big-government spending priorities. Now, to be fair, the Chamber does some good things – like defending free enterprise – for the country, but this is not one of them.

The Chamber will be spending $500,000 on their “Make Transportation Job #1” campaign. They will be running radio and television ads in Arkansas, Idaho, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Wyoming. The Chamber’s executive director of transportation and infrastructure, Janet Kavinoky, described the campaign:

“The idea is to get out, give people a good sense what the bill is and get them talking to their members of Congress and have them get the bill done. We want Congress to feel like it needs to come back to Washington and get the bill done and put it to bed.”

This is not just some issue that needs to be passed, as it has been in the past. That is the reason spending has been climbing so rapidly. Congress passes something under the radar and Americans don’t pay attention. When that happens, Members of Congress feel they can put all kinds of big-government priorities into the bill and no one will notice. This needs to stop.

The highway bill, as we’ve stated before, spends more money than revenues will bring in. This will result in taxpayer funded bailouts to cover the difference. It also relies heavily on a new revenue stream – from expanded oil and gas exploration – to make up some of that difference.

Any new revenues and spending offsets should be used to pay down our debt and deficit, and not to justify NEW spending binges. Just finding new ways to pay for new spending won’t help our economy, and will bring us closer to collapse – by using these new revenues for anything other than deficit reduction will take us in the wrong direction.

Stay vigilant! Don’t be fooled by slick ads and political double-speak. This bill spends more than we have and needs to be stopped.

Deputy Communications Director

5 thoughts on “The Highway Bill Will Be Back”

Why does Congress not understand Cut, Cap and Balance? They do nothing but spend more.

Face facts: Congress and Admnstrations, past and present, are the direct cause of the situation our Country is now in. Many of the “lifers” are still sitting in Congress. If these peoploe were so dumb, self serving and careless to cause the situation, why do you think they are smart enougn to fix the problems?

The highway bill , or ANY expenditures in Washington are only acceptable if they are paid for in cuts egual to or EXCEEDING said expenditures . We desparately need RON PAUL in the White House . Support and vote for RON PAUL , for Americas sake !

What the hell is Congress taking another week long vacation for? They just had what, 30 days of the Christmas holidays. Here it is only February and they are abandoning their responsibilities already! They should be told that if they leave their posts, just do not bother coming back as their seats will be filled with REAL AMERICANS. We do not get multiple vacations at taxpayers expense so if they want a vacation, let them go but they go at their own expense – NO PAY AND NANCY PELOSI, NO FIRST CLASS NOR USAF AIRCRAFT. Wake up America we are getting screwed by our representatives.

The only Highway the democrat communists and the red RINO’s have any intentions of completing is the one they have been constructing for the last fifty years, the highway to hell. If not for the herculeam efforts of Ron Paul and his small (but rapidly growing) army of patriotic American’s, constitutional government would have been completely destroyed years ago. Even now most of the freedoms and liberties known by todays older generation during their youth, have been nullified by both political parties during the last five decades, and today, those under fifty years of age having never experienced those freedoms, do not lament their loss, because they have been “socially and idelogolically” conditioned to accept more government regualtions, restrictions and less and less freedom and individual liberty. They have effectively become “socialists” though many do not even know it, because identity labels have been so obfuscated, socialism is now “moderate”, “communism” is now liberal or progressive.

Todays America is the result of WWII and although America’s participation in the fighting was less than five years the entire culture of the United states was changed and Pandora was set loose upon the nation. The transition from what it was, to what it is now, happened before the first draftee of the war fired the first shot at his enemy. The events of the second world war set the stage for everything that is now destroying America and although America won and proclaimed a great victory over our enemies on foreign fields of battle, we lost the America we had at the beginning of the war.

About Us

For too long, big-government special interests have dominated Washington. Heritage Action's DC-based staff and local activists break through the establishment in Washington, ensuring Members of Congress get the right message.